Bowling balls having permanent identification indicia



June 24, 1958 s. J. GIANGREco 2,839,853

NVENTOR.

ATTONEK Unite States Pate BOWLING BALLS HAVING PERMANENT IDENTIFICATION INDICIA Samuel J. Giangreco, Kansas City, M0. Application December 16, 1957, Serial No. 7 03,1571 z claims. (C l. 40-2.z)

This invention relates to bowling equipment and more Vparticularly to bowling balls having owner identification Aindicia thereon.

It is, of course, known that bowling ballsiharve been marked in various ways in the past to indicate the owner of the ball, the registration number of the same and/ ork the particular manufacturer of the article, but the most widelyY used of the past methods, consisting of cutting shallow, V-shaped grooves in the outer surface of` the ball and then painting these grooves with white pigmented material, has not been satisfactory because the white paint readily wears away during use of the ball, thereby'making yice polymerization of the material within the indicia channels,

the resulting solid is firmly bonded to the ball.

Referring to the drawing, it can be seen that the'bowling ball designated 10 and provided with conventional nger and thumb openings 12 is'suitably grooved with a milling machine or the like to present a series-of channels 14 correspondingto the desired indicia. For example, if it is desired to mark ball 10 with a persons name, it is merely necessary to groove the outer surface of ball 10 toa predetermined depth with channels corresponding to the desired name. It is to be Apointed out'that channels 14 may be most convenientlyfformed by utilization of a vertical mill controlled by parallel arms, in turn conne'cted to a suitable, vertically disposed member which may be traced over a name'template. The depth of the channels 14 will depend upon various factors "including the width of the groove being cut, as well as-the complexity of the design being inscribed on the outer surface of ball 10. Manifestly, suitable provision may be made on the milling machine for yvarying the depth of channels Achannels 14 are transversely parallel, and it is alsorto be notedthat the distance between the bottom 20of each ofA the channels andthe outermost surface V22 of ball 10 is somewhat greaterv than the transverse width of channels 14 between opposed walls 16 and 18.

i-Subsequently, channels 14 are filled with'a liquid or paste-like material capable of polymerizing within the permanent identification indicia in the outer surfacek stantially on the line l2 2*V of Fig. vland'illustrating'th'e way-in which channels areformed inthe ball in away toreceive 'polymerizable materialwhich ,subsequently presents a tough, relatively elastic, crack resistan`t"fsolid` adapted towithstand shock incident'to use of the ball; y

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view simila'rv 'to Fig. 2 and illustrating a modified form of the invention wherein imaginary planesparallel to opposed walls forming the channels converge'adjacent the center of the ball;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary,penlargled, cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 3 andshowing a third modification ofthe present invention wherein the channels are configured inra novel manner to anchor the indicia material in to the outermost surface of the bowling ball; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, enlarged, cross-sectional View on the same line as Fig. 4 and illustrating still another form of indicia channel construction serving to anchor the polymerized material in the outer surface of the ball.

Briefly, the present invention contemplates forming a series of channels in the outermost surface of a bowling ball and corresponding to specied identification indicia, and subsequently introducing liquid or paste material into the channels and which is capable of undergoing polymerization therein to a tough, relatively elastic, crack resistant solid adapted to withstand shock incident to use of the ball so that the indicia will not become dislodged nor wear away during such use of the ball. The invention further contemplates applying a portion of the polymerizable material to the surfaces of the channels presenting the indicia to thereby soften or otherwise act on the material from which the ball is constructed to the extent that, upon grooves to a solid state, thereby presenting identification indicia 24. Although various materials may be utilized to form indicia 24, the preferred formulation has Fbeen found to .include anv admixture of methyl methacrylate and'polymethyl methacrylatecombined with asuitable promoter'capable of causing the acrylates to copolymerize within channels 14 at room temperature. In this respect, it lis pointed out `that the exact materials utilized as well as. the proportions?thereof-will'vary with the materials employed, but lutilizing'thefpreferred materials outlined above it has been determined that an admixture of threeparts by weight of polymethylmethacrylate andone Ypartbyv weight fof methyl methac'rylate monomerrwith a;suiiicient :quantity ,of a promotentocause the material tocopolymerize at ro'om temperaturewill give'the desired results. Many promoting agentsA canbe. utilized to cause the; methyl methacrylate `and polymethyl methacrylate to polymerize at room temperature :and especially useful are the amine promoters'which coactrwith :suitable curingv yagents -whichloxidize in the presencefof the amines. For

example,- Aone satisfactory promoter hastbeenfound t'obe suitable quantities of an admixturezof,benzoylperoiridel and -dimethyl-p-toluidine.`

Inasmuchgas channels 14;,are withfa milling' machine or similar apparatus, it can beappreciated that the surfaces of walls 16 and 18 and bottom 20 are relatively rough and somewhat porous as contrasted with the outer Asurface 22 of ball 10 which has been polished. Therefore, in the preferred process, the liquid or paste admixture of polymerizable material is introduced directly into the channels 14 and because of the rough or porous nature of walls 16 and 18 and bottom 20, the material penetrates into and lls all of the tiny pores and holes in the surfaces of walls 16 and 18 and bottom 20. A strong mechanical bond is thereby formed between indicia 24 and ball 10 upon polymerization of the material. It is also believed that a chemical bond is formed between indicia 24 and ball 10 because of the fact that certain of the substances in the initial admixture of the polymerizable material are capable of acting on or softening the substances from which ball 10 is cousecurely bonded to ball 1.0, it has been found that byA applying or coating the surfaces of walls 16 and 18 and. bottom v20 of channels 14 with a quantity of the liquid monomeric material, yand in particular the methyl methacrylate monomer, prior to introduction of the admixture thereinto, the liquid material tends to soften or break down 4rthe substance from which bowling ball 10 is constr-ucted sopthat, upon copolymerization of the methyl methacrylate and the polymet-hyl methacrylate to form solid 24, the latter is firmly bonded to the surfaces of walls 16 and 18 and bottom 20.

Various pigments may be incorporated into the polymerizable material prior Vto introduction of the same into channels 14 to thereby make indicia 24 a dilerent color than the outermost surface 22 of ball 10, and in this respect, any type of color may be produced which will suitably contrast with the colorV of ball 10. Inasmuch as most-,bowling balls are black or a similar dark color7 utilization of a pigment inthe polymerizable material is not ordinarily necessaryv because methyl methacrylate and Apolymethyl methacrylate, for example, polymerize to a relatively white solid state so that the necessary contrast between indicia 24 and the outermost surface 22 of ball .10 is obtained. Y

A slight excess of the liquid polymerizablev material is introduced into channels 14 so that the material extends slightly above the outermost surface 22 of ball 10, and then a suitable pressure plate having a face conforming to the outermost configuration of outer surface 22 of ball 10 is placed in position over the lled channels 14 and pressure is applied to ball '10 until polymerization ofV A slightly modified. form of theinvention is illustratedV in Fig. 3,. wherein itcan be seen lthat bowling ball 1,10V is grooved with a suitable vmilling machine to present channels 1-14rcorresponding to the desired identification indicia, andl it is to be noted that channels 1141are exactly `similar to channels14 with the exception that while walls 116 and 118 of channels 114 are transversely parallel, planes through walls 116 and 118 pass through substantially the center of ball 110 so that each of the indicia'12`4 are located substantially on corresponding radii of ball 110. The indicia 124 are formed in a manner similar to the method described above and the only change effected is the manner of grooving ball 110 to present channels 114. It has been determined that disposition of channels 114 in radial positions further prevents solid indicia 124 from being dislodged from ball 11i) during use of the latter.

f The channels receiving the identication indicia may be formed in various other ways as ilustrated in Fig. 4, wherein it can be seen that channels 214 formed in the outermost surface 222 of ball 210 are groovecl in a manner so that the transverse distance between walls 216 and 218 adjacent outer surface Vv222 of ball 210 is substantially less than the transverse width of channels 214 adjacent bottom 220 thereof. In this manner, solid indicia 224 are firmly anchored in channels 214 and indicia 224 will not become dislodged from ball 210 by virtue of shock imparted to the latter during use.

Still another manner of anchoring the indicia in the outermostY surface of a bowling ball is shown in Fig'. 5 wherein ,itVV can be seen that the channels 314 milled in the outer surface 322 of ball 310 are configured in ,a manner so that the walls 316 and 318 are substantially parallel along the major portion thereof and adjacent outer surface 322 but which converge outwardly as bottom 320 is approached, so that the channels 314 are substantially transversely wider adjacent bottom 320 than atthe outer surface 322 of ball 310.

It is now manifest that various modications may beV made in the instant invention without departing from the v spirit thereof, and it is therefore intended to be limited l of side walls kand a bottom having relatively initially rough surfaces; and a VEller of tough, relatively elastic, crack-resistant, polymerized, synthetic resin material cornpletely lling saidA channels `and capable of withstanding shock incident to use yof the ball, said material being physically and chemically bonded directly to the surfaces dening said channels.

2. An articley of manufacture as set forth in claim 1 wherein said material is polymethyl methacrylate.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNrTED STATES PATENTS 

1. AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE COMPRISING A BOWLING BALL HAVING AN OUTER, RUBBER-LIKE, HARD COVER PORTION PROVIDED WITH A SERIES OF CHANNELS IN THE OUTER FACE THEREOF CORRESPONDING TO IDENTIFICATION INDICIA EACH DEFINED BY A PAIR OF SIDE WALLS AND A BOTTOM HAVING RELATIVELY INITIALLY ROUGH SURFACES; AND A FILLER OF TOUGH, RELATIVELY ELASTIC, CRACK-RESISTANT, POLYMERIZED, SYNTHETIC RESIN MATERIAL COMPLETELY FILLING SAID CHANNELS AND CAPABLE OF WITHSTANDING SHOCK INCIDENT TO USE OF THE BALL, SAID MATERIAL BEING PHYSICALLY AND CHEMICALLY BONDED DIRECTLY TO THE SURFACES DEFINING SAID CHANNELS. 